Today’s figures from the CSO for overseas visitors to the Republic of Ireland confirm continued growth during the peak summer season months, with an overall increase of +6.5% – or an additional 291,200 overseas visitors – during the January to August period.

North America: visitors from North America grew by +16.5% during the period January-August. Tourism Ireland believes we are on course to achieve our best year ever from the United States – even surpassing the previous best year of 2007; this year, we will welcome over one million American visitors, spending about US$1 billion.

Mainland Europe: visitors from Mainland Europe increased by almost +5%, January-August. Europe continues to grow in relative importance and is now the number one source of holidaymakers for Ireland.

Great Britain: it is particularly encouraging to see a return to growth from GB, with a +3.7% increase in visitors from that market, January-August. Tourism Ireland is rolling out the “GB Path to Growth” plan this year, in conjunction with our industry partners, to boost travel from this market.

Australia and Developing Markets: ADM recorded growth of +11.3% for the January-August period, largely driven by Australia and New Zealand.

Welcoming today’s figures, Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said:“Today’s figures from the CSO for June to August are very strong, showing growth from almost all of our markets worldwide. We are seeing record growth this year from North America (+20% for the three-month period; and from our long-haul markets (+17.6%) – with Australia and New Zealand in particular driving that growth (+19.7%). It is also really encouraging to see a return to growth in visitors from Great Britain for this period (almost +5%). Mainland Europe is also playing its part in growing tourism business from overseas this year, with good increases in particular from markets like Germany (+12%), the Nordic countries (+12%) and Benelux (+11.5%).

“Our autumn campaign is now in full swing – we have a really extensive programme in place between now and the end of the year, targeting late-season travellers around the world, to keep this momentum going. The period September to December traditionally yields as much as 30% of overseas tourism business.”